Most of the diving was to exaggerate what was already a foul, so in that respect it is gamesmanship not cheating exactly. You could say it is cheating when someone deliberately takes a player out, as Australia did on a few occasions - most if not all teams do that anyway tho.

Most of the diving was to exaggerate what was already a foul, so in that respect it is gamesmanship not cheating exactly. You could say it is cheating when someone deliberately takes a player out, as Australia did on a few occasions - most if not all teams do that anyway tho.

Define "taking a player out"? If you set out to injure someone so they can't play, then yeah, it's pretty dirty, but going in hard and fouling is hardly cheating, it's just physical play. If it's too rough it'll be carded, and given how harsh the ref was on Australia yesterday you can hardly complain that he didn't crack down enough on the fouls.

Diving in an attempt to win a free kick or penalty when there isn't one is cheating, pure and simple. It's just like a goal scored from a deliberate handball, kicking a player when the ref isn't looking or whatever else.

Mind you, almost all teams dive to some degree or another, but there's a big gap between Australia and Japan or Argentina in that regard.

Define "taking a player out"? If you set out to injure someone so they can't play, then yeah, it's pretty dirty, but going in hard and fouling is hardly cheating, it's just physical play. If it's too rough it'll be carded, and given how harsh the ref was on Australia yesterday you can hardly complain that he didn't crack down enough on the fouls.

Diving in an attempt to win a free kick or penalty when there isn't one is cheating, pure and simple. It's just like a goal scored from a deliberate handball, kicking a player when the ref isn't looking or whatever else.

Mind you, almost all teams dive to some degree or another, but there's a big gap between Australia and Japan or Argentina in that regard.

Taking out a player, as in they go past (or as they're going past) an Aussie and the Aussie then deliberately pushes them over, grabs their shirt, trips them up or whatever because it's to their advantage to give away a free-kick instead of letting them continue. Japan were nearly always fouled when they dived, as opposed to a typical Harry Kewell dive which requires no contact whatsoever.

Taking out a player, as in they go past (or as they're going past) an Aussie and the Aussie then deliberately pushes them over, grabs their shirt, trips them up or whatever because it's to their advantage to give away a free-kick instead of letting them continue. Japan were nearly always fouled when they dived, as opposed to a typical Harry Kewell dive which requires no contact whatsoever.

There's nothing wrong with that really. Provided it's not in a situation where it prevents a goal, it's just a foul, and slowing up the game by fouling the opposition is legitimate, assuming the referee is fair and calls the fouls when they are there. And if you are fouled and go down, it's not a dive. That's a foul. A dive is when someone is standing behind you (for instance) and does nothing wrong and you throw yourself to the ground in an attempt to win a free kick when there isn't one.

A foul is cheating. There's no two ways about it. Sides like Australia who are always making niggly fouls are very effective at what they do, because they avoid rash tackles and the like, and thus hurt the opposition but can avoid cards a lot of the time. but it's still cheating.

Define "taking a player out"? If you set out to injure someone so they can't play, then yeah, it's pretty dirty, but going in hard and fouling is hardly cheating, it's just physical play. If it's too rough it'll be carded, and given how harsh the ref was on Australia yesterday you can hardly complain that he didn't crack down enough on the fouls.

Diving in an attempt to win a free kick or penalty when there isn't one is cheating, pure and simple. It's just like a goal scored from a deliberate handball, kicking a player when the ref isn't looking or whatever else.

Mind you, almost all teams dive to some degree or another, but there's a big gap between Australia and Japan or Argentina in that regard.

Translation:

When they do it, it's low-down skullduggery and cheating worthy of a red card.
When we do it, it's over-exuberance and good physical manly play worthy of a playful yet brusque slap across the thigh.

A foul is cheating. There's no two ways about it. Sides like Australia who are always making niggly fouls are very effective at what they do, because they avoid rash tackles and the like, and thus hurt the opposition but can avoid cards a lot of the time. but it's still cheating.

How on earth is a foul cheating? An accidental handball is a foul, as is a tackle that's fractionally late or whatever else. Yes, dragging down a player on their way to goal is cheating (sort of), which is why it's usually punished by a red card, but playing in a physical manner, tackling hard to impose physical pressure and slow opposition run and giving away the odd foul is perfectly legitimate, while pretending to be fouled when you aren't certainly isn't.

When they do it, it's low-down skullduggery and cheating worthy of a red card.
When we do it, it's over-exuberance and good physical manly play worthy of a playful yet brusque slap across the thigh.

Oh give me a break. When have I suggested that Australia should be able to get away with anything other teams don't get away with? Diving is cheating, when Australia does it just as much as when other teams do it. Playing in a physical manner (like say Togo today, the red card aside) isn't.

Oh give me a break. When have I suggested that Australia should be able to get away with anything other teams don't get away with? Diving is cheating, when Australia does it just as much as when other teams do it. Playing in a physical manner (like say Togo today, the red card aside) isn't.